From Loving Too Much
by emo-geek-87
Summary: Burt Hummel means something to everyone. Even the ones you might not think of. Puck/Kurt SLASH


Title: From Loving Too Much

Author: emo_chick_87

Pairing,Character(s): Kurt/Puck, Burt

Rating: PG-13

Word Count: 2000 words

Spoilers:Up to Episode 2x03

Genre: Angst/Fluff

Warnings: talk of potentially triggery situations but nothing graphic.

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.

Summary: Burt Hummel means something to everyone. Even the ones you might not think of.

AN: I should be working on my bigbang stories but this one wouldn't leave me alone.

.

Tina-

For the longest time, Burt Hummel was the quiet man that would give them all a passing nod as they headed down the stairs. He was the one that told them to keep it down when they were dancing to _Single Ladies_. He was the guy that made threats about shotguns and flamethrowers.

During the whole Madonna/girl power assignment, she spent an inordinate amount of time hiding in the Hummel house. So much so that they hadn't even bothered to ring the bell anymore. Walking in on Burt Hummel singing in the kitchen was the last thing she ever thought she'd see.

She didn't recognize the song but she wouldn't be surprised if she saw the sheet music to it one day during glee. It was _that_ kind of cheesy. The wooden spoon was enough to make her choke back her laughter but after a few well-timed bum wiggles she couldn't hold it in anymore.

He looked at her like he'd just been caught painting his toenails and burst out laughing right along with her.

His pale skin against the even paler fabric of the hospital sheets make her long for the days of flushed cheeks and eyes lighting up brightly with unshed tears of laughter.

If it hurts this much for her, she can't even imagine how much it's hurting Kurt.

.

Santana-

Despite appearances, Ladyface was quickly becoming one of her favorite people to be around. His sharp tongue rivaled her own and sometimes even gave Coach Sylvester a run for her money. His fashion sense made her furious that he was the only one given the pass of street clothes.

The last time someone tried to wear anything other than their Cheerios uniform, the girl was sent home with a letter of reprimand and her own tight ponytail clutched in her left hand. It really did piss her off because having a friend like Kurt would be perfect as far as fashion went and she was never able to take advantage of it.

All that being said she didn't start to worship at the alter of all things Hummel until the day she met Burt. He seemed like the kind of dad she had always wanted. The strong, silent type that would give you hugs when you needed them but still get embarrassed when he pulled away with tears in his eyes. He was flannel and motor oil and warmth.

Britt had dragged her over to gossip about boys with Lima's #1 queer. She tried to stay impartial to Kurt's cute shyness but the girl that lived inside her just wanted to hold his hand. Hearing him talk about the boys he thought were jumpable and the way he wanted his first kiss to go made her long for those days. The days of first kisses and starry-eyed looks at the bad boy with a mohawk and a heart of gold.

She was waiting on the front porch, looking at the night sky. Britt's dad had been by to pick her up almost twenty minutes before and like usual her dad was late. The loud squeak of the screen door made her jump a little but if Burt noticed he didn't let on.

"Santana? What are you still doing here?"

"My dad's just running a little late."

"Well, you can wait inside, you know. It's cold out here."

"I'm fine, Mr Hummel."

Burt looked like he wanted to say something but instead he just nodded his head and disappeared back inside. She thought he was gone but then she heard the screen door again. He drapes the scarf around her neck and ties it in a way that makes her feel like a little kid.

The wool presses her gold necklace against her skin and it's the first time she even notices the cold. He tugs lightly on the end of the scarf and looks at her like he wants to say something important. Something that might change her life forever. She holds her breath.

"You can wait out here for ten minutes. If your dad's not here by then, I'm giving you a ride home. Deal?"

"Deal."

He nods his head again and heads back inside. Nine minutes and fifty-two seconds later she hears the telltale sound of her father's Chevy Celebrity. His voice is cold and the car if even colder. She wraps her hands in the ends of the scarf and tries to cling to the warmth of the Hummel house.

She keeps the scarf folded under her pillow. She tells herself that she can still feel its warmth even if she's sure most of it has been overtaken with the cold of the Lopez house. She tries not to cringe when she notices that her smell has worked its way into the fabric.

Six months later, when the hot sun beats down on her, she walks into school with the warm, brightly colored wool obscuring most of her uniform. She should be worried but it really doesn't matter what's going to happen when Coach sees her.

All she knows is Burt Hummel is in the hospital and the wool feels like home against her skin.

.

Matt-

Matt Rutherford is sixteen when his world is turned upside down. His mother finds all of his notes. The little whispers of love that he and Mike have passed between them. When he gets home that night he sees her fingerprints all other them and he knows she's read them all.

Now she knows everything. She knows about the first grade kiss under the monkey bars. She knows about the hand holding under their junior high lunch table. She knows about the weekend they spent together, locked away in Mike's room. She knows about the claiming marks Mike loved to leave on him and the way he always loved to carry them. She knows everything and she hates him for it.

She tells him that first thing in the morning things are going to change. Thrusting a pamphlet into his palm. A place that will fix him. A place that will make him normal again. He doesn't have the heart to tell her that he is normal. That nothing is going to fix him because he's not broken.

When she falls asleep with a half-empty bottle of vodka in her grip, Matt leaves out the back door. He goes to the only place he knows and rings the doorbell.

Burt's flannel is soft against his cheek and absorbs the tears that fall against it easily. He tells Burt about what's happening. About being in love and not being enough. He tells him how scared he is and how he doesn't want to go.

He can see Burt's heart breaking as he explains that there is nothing he can do. That it's his mother's choice and he's still a minor. He watches at Burt fights back tears of anger and hugs him even tighter. Burt tells him that he is exactly how he was meant to be. That he is loved and that nothing they ever do to him will change that. That if he's strong against the forces that want to destroy him, it gets so much better after.

Burt pulls a slightly tarnished necklace out of a drawer in the study. The cross has a small diamond in the center. He tells Matt about how he gave that necklace to his wife on the day they got married and how she had never gone a day without it. He tells him that it's his now. That he can have it as a reminder that love is everywhere you look.

He finds strength in it. It helps him when he sneaks into Mike's bedroom and they spend their last night together. It helps him when he has to kiss Mike goodbye. It helps him when his mother leaves him at the place he will spend the next two years of his life. It helps him when he hears about Mike dating Tina. It helps him when the _treatments_ get so bad that his blood stains the diamond and makes it look like a ruby. It's the only thing that keeps him alive.

Two years later, he sees Burt again. He hands him back the necklace and thanks him. As he walks down the driveway, the sun shines on his back and his fingers trace the small white scars on the palm of his hand. Four pinprick marks that form a macabre diamond.

He will carry them with him for the rest of his life and he will be forever grateful for them. Because they came from the only thing that made him fight to survive.

Burt Hummel gave him something to hold on to and he did. Tight enough to draw blood.

.

Mercedes-

When her heart gets truly broken for the first time, Kurt is visiting his grandma in Cedar Rapids. But as she staggers out of Jamie's car she sees that she told him to take her to the Hummel's anyway. Her dress is ripped where Jamie grabbed her and her small hands do nothing to hide that fact.

Burt listens to her ranting and her crying. He gives her a look that lets her know that the anger burning across his face isn't for her. It's for the scumbag that didn't get the message that no means no and tried to hurt a lady. She sees the pride in his face when she tells him about the well placed knee Jamie had been subjected to the minute he decided to take it too far.

He takes her mind off of things by asking her what she thinks about the Puckerman kid. He sounds like a concerned father and she tells him the truth. He's the boy Kurt wants. And she's pretty sure he wants Kurt back.

He watches _The Wizard of Oz_ with her as she falls asleep on the couch next to him. She half-hears high voices talking about having what they needed within them all along, when she feels it. The soft cotton fabric of the worn blanket that never left it's spot draped along the edge of the couch. The warm hand that smooths down her hair and the dry, warm press of lips to her forehead.

She hears his footsteps heading up the stairs and she snuggles deeper into the big couch. She faintly hears Dorthy talking about there being no place like home.

The next morning she finds her dress folded neatly on the table. The large tear has been carefully sown back together. Judy Garland rings in her ears again and she couldn't agree more. There's no place like home.

.

Puck-

The first time he sees Burt Hummel he's in a coma. He watched from the shadows as the nurses force Kurt to go with Carole and Finn for the night.

He listens to the steady beat of machines and taps along with his foot. He tells Burt everything he hasn't been brave enough to tell Kurt yet. He talks about love and fear. He talks about the future and how he actually sees one for himself now. He tells Burt that Kurt's not ready to lose him. That he's not strong enough to hold Kurt together yet. That he still has so much he still needs to teach Kurt. He tells him that he can't really remember what it feels like to have a dad but that he thinks Burt might make a wicked father-in-law.

The nurses kick him out when they make their next rounds but he stays in the parking lot until he sees Carole's car pull into the parking lot the next morning.

.

When Burt wakes up he knows two verifiable facts, even if he's not entirely sure how he came to those conclusions. He's still here because Kurt still needs him and that he's definitely going to give that Puckerman kid a chance.


End file.
